In a positive development in the campaign against internment by remand
which has seen republicans jailed for years without charges being
brought, Luke O’Neill has been granted bail.

A judge refused efforts by the Crown to continue detaining 24-year-old
Luke because he would otherwise spend more than two years behind bars
before his case is dealt with. The trainee teacher had already spend 17
months behind bars without trial.

Mr O’Neill had been subjected to an unusually harsh prison regime when
he was held against his will on the criminal wing of Maghaberry. Held in
isolation after receiving death threats from loyalists, he then had to
endure attempts by MI5 to recruit him as an informer.

Crown prosecutors mounted an appeal this week after a district judge
decided on Friday that he should be granted bail. Defence counsel
Stephen Toal pointed out that Mr O’Neill would not go on trial any
earlier than 2019.

He said his client has kept himself in isolation within his prison
regime, refusing to leave his cell because he doesn’t feel safe.

“The seventeen months spent in Maghaberry have been horrendous for this
young man,” Mr Toal said. “His mental health has been badly affected and
he wishes to spend as much time as possible with his family.”

In a separate development, however, it has been reported that a County
Antrim man has been interned on the orders of British Direct Ruler Karen
Bradley.

The father-of-three Niall Lehd, who is a member of the little known
Irish Republican National Congress (IRNC), was sentenced to prison in
2014 after pleading guilty to arms charges. At the time, a judge said he
did not consider Lehd to be dangerous and said there was “more of a risk
to yourself than to others”. He was released two years ago.

A Facebook page set up to highlight his case said Mr Lehd was taken to
Maghaberry jail on March 8.

In a statement, Mr Lehd said that after the end of his prison sentence
he set about rebuilding a life for himself, his Protestant partner and
children, in the face of loyalist threats and attacks on their home.

“Our hopes for any kind of a normal life were being crushed by the PSNI,
media and loyalist paramilitaries but we did not give up,” it said.

“We persevered to improve our lives for our children throughout all
that’s been thrown at us. All the sectarianism and raids that have came
since we persevered until nearly two weeks ago when the Secretary of
State saw fit to revoke my licence and return me to prison.

“I have been given no reason why it has been seen fit to take a father
away from his children the youngest being 18 months old. It’s not just
me but my family, friends and comrades who suffer at the hands of
British internment. Today it is me, tomorrow it could be you.”

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